Healthy sleep habits are an important factor of computer ergonomics. The definition of ergonomics is: the study of peoples’ efficiency in the workplace. Posture is also an important ergonomic variable. Posture is the position we hold our bodies in.
If we have poor sleep quality at night, it’s going to directly affect our computer posture the next day. The earlier in the day we get tired, the earlier we have poor computer posture. This is why healthy sleep habits are necessary in order to have good computer posture.
I like to define all the variables of computer ergonomics as:
- Posture
- Sleep
- Hydration
- Breathing
- Nutrition
This article will focus on how to create a healthy sleeping environment that sets us up for success before we even get in the bed.
This article is not professional medical advice. It’s based off my personal experience and opinions. For years, my poor computer posture caused muscle tension, inflammation, and chronic pain. Bad posture also decreased my mental clarity, energy level, and work productivity.
All the office wellness tips I write about are directly related to improving posture at a computer. We are our own primary caretakers. Do your research. Make good decisions. And be the best advocate possible for your own healthcare.
Healthy Sleep Habits
I want my bedroom environment to be an asset that promotes better sleep, for many reasons. The main reason, is that my computer posture is much better after a good night’s sleep. These are my favorite sleep quality improvement tips.
Consistent, early bed time
My answer to the question, “what time should I got to bed?” is simple. The answer is “8 hours before what time I have to wake up.” It’s really that straight-forward.
I wake up at 5:30am every day, so I make sure I’m in bed by 9:30pm every night. This way, I get 8 hours of sleep. If I go to bed any later than 9:30pm, I’m putting myself at a disadvantage with every minute I’m not in bed.
It’s important that I consistently go to bed at 9:30pm as much as possible. Not necessarily every night. But, this is my best sleep schedule for productivity and posture.
I’ve been working on improving my sleep habits for years. I’ve gotten to the point where I currently fall asleep within 5 minutes of lying down in bed. When I first started to improve sleep habits, I would lay there for an hour, sometimes even 2 hours, before falling asleep. But I still got in bed at 9:30pm every night. This was very important.
Every week, I would fall asleep a few minutes earlier than the previous week. Then eventually, I was consistent long enough to get to the point where I am today (falling asleep within 5 minutes). All of the healthy sleep habits in this article have contributed to how quickly I fall asleep. They’ve also helped contribute to the fact that I never wake up in the middle of the night anymore (except for trips to the restroom).
Blackout curtains
This is one of the most underrated ways of how to sleep better. I use black out curtains over the blinds on my bedroom windows. Also, I used to think I didn’t really need black out curtains. I thought my blinds made my bedroom dark enough. I was wrong. Once I got blackout curtains, it helped me sleep quicker, better, and deeper.
Temperature controlled mattress cover
I invested in a temperature controlled mattress cover made by a company called Eight Sleep. So, I use it to stay cooler throughout the night. I also set it to automatically warm up in the morning. This wakes me up more naturally, opposed to a loud alarm clock. It also starts to warm up my muscles before I even get out of bed. This device has improved my sleep in a big way. I never wake up sweating in the middle of the night anymore.
To learn more about my Eight Sleep pod cover experience, check out my article titled, Top Recovery Tools for Better Posture. I also talk about my other favorite posture correction devices in that article.
Mouth taping at night for better sleep
I’ve been using mouth tape for sleeping since January of 2023. This is another valuable sleeping posture tip that’s helped me a lot. The most important benefit is that it improves my oral posture. I used to be a chronic mouth breather. Holding my mouth open all night used to cause excessive overuse of my jaw muscles. Since I’ve been taping my mouth shut, my sleep quality has improved a lot.
Mouth taping at night also helps me breathe through my nose a lot better. The nose has a lot more defense mechanisms against germs compared to breathing through the mouth.
My favorite brand of mouth tape is Hostage Tape. If you’d like to learn more about my experience with Hostage Tape, check out my article titled, Benefits of Using Mouth Tape for Sleep.
White, 100% organic cotton bed sheets
One of the most simple ways how to fix sleep schedule naturally is to use white, 100% organic cotton sheets. All of these small changes add up to more improved sleep quality. I make sure the bed sheets are the color white. This is to avoid any artificial dyes touching my skin all night. I recently took a class on how to minimize toxins in our daily lives. I learned that artificial dyes matter.
Grounding sheet
I also use something called a grounding sheet on top of my normal (fitted) bed sheet. It’s 95% organic cotton and 5% silver. The silver conducts a negative energy from the ground of the Earth. The grounding sheet comes with a small wire. One end plugs on to the grounding sheet. The other end plugs into the ground portion of an electrical outlet. This grounding sheet has decreased my inflammation quite a bit since I started using it in December of 2023.
THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN COMPUTER POSTURE.
If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You’re taking valuable steps to reduce computer-related injuries by improving your posture. That’s something to be very proud of!
If you liked this article on healthy sleep habits, check out my free ebook titled 3 Ways to Improve Computer Posture Immediately!
>>> Click here to download your free copy
This ebook is a great supplement to the article you just read. In this ebook, you’ll learn 3 of the most painful, poor computer posture mistakes. Then, you’ll learn how to fix those mistakes immediately with 3 simple changes to your ergonomic computer desk setup.
Go to SittingPosture.com/ebook to learn more.
Take care,
Todd Bowen